This application claims priority to EP 03100302.5 filed Jan. 15, 2001, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to lithographic projection apparatus and more particularly to lithographic projection apparatus including an optical alignment system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, lithographic apparatus as described herein include a radiation system for supplying a projection beam of radiation, a support structure for supporting patterning structure, the patterning structure serving to pattern the projection beam according to a desired pattern, a substrate table for holding a substrate, a projection system for imaging the patterned beam onto a target portion on a first side of the substrate, while the second side of the substrate faces the substrate table, and an alignment system for aligning a pattern of the patterning structure with an alignment mark provided on the substrate, using alignment radiation.
The term xe2x80x9cpatterning structurexe2x80x9d as here employed should be broadly interpreted as referring to means that can be used to endow an incoming radiation beam with a patterned cross-section, corresponding to a pattern that is to be created in a target portion of the substrate; the term xe2x80x9clight valvexe2x80x9d can also be used in this context. Generally, said pattern will correspond to a particular functional layer in a device being created in the target portion, such as an integrated circuit or other device (see below). Examples of such patterning structure include:
A mask. The concept of a mask is well known in lithography, and it includes mask types such as binary, alternating phase-shift, and attenuated phase-shift, as well as various hybrid mask types. Placement of such a mask in the radiation beam causes selective transmission (in the case of a transmissive mask) or reflection (in the case of a reflective mask) of the radiation impinging on the mask, according to the pattern on the mask. In the case of a mask, the support structure will generally be a mask table, which ensures that the mask can be held at a desired position in the incoming radiation beam, and that it can be moved relative to the beam if so desired.
A programmable mirror array. One example of such a device is a matrix-addressable surface having a viscoelastic control layer and a reflective surface. The basic principle behind such an apparatus is that (for example) addressed areas of the reflective surface reflect incident light as diffracted light, whereas unaddressed areas reflect incident light as undiffracted light. Using an appropriate filter, the said undiffracted light can be filtered out of the reflected beam, leaving only the diffracted light behind; in this manner, the beam becomes patterned according to the addressing pattern of the matrix-adressable surface. An alternative embodiment of a programmable mirror array employs a matrix arrangement of tiny mirrors, each of which can be individually tilted about an axis by applying a suitable localized electric field, or by employing piezoelectric actuation means. Once again, the mirrors are matrix-addressable, such that addressed mirrors will reflect an incoming radiation beam in a different direction to unaddressed mirrors; in this manner, the reflected beam is patterned according to the addressing pattern of the matrix-adressable mirrors. The required matrix addressing can be performed using suitable electronic means. In both of the situations described hereabove, the patterning structure can comprise one or more programmable mirror arrays. More information on mirror arrays as here referred to can be gleaned, for example, from U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,296,891 and 5,523,193, and PCT patent applications WO 98/38597 and WO 98/33096, which are incorporated herein by reference. In the case of a programmable mirror array, the said support structure may be embodied as a frame or table, for example, which may be fixed or movable as required.
A programmable LCD array. An example of such a construction is given in U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,872, which is incorporated herein by reference. As above, the support structure in this case may be embodied as a frame or table, for example, which may be fixed or movable as required.
For purposes of simplicity, the rest of this text may, at certain locations, specifically direct itself to examples involving a mask and mask table; however, the general principles discussed in such instances should be seen in the broader context of the patterning structure as hereabove set forth.
For the sake of simplicity, the projection system may hereinafter be referred to as the xe2x80x9clensxe2x80x9d; however, this term should be broadly interpreted as encompassing various types of projection system, including refractive optics, reflective optics, and catadioptric systems, for example. The radiation system may also include components operating according to any of these design types for directing, shaping or controlling the projection beam of radiation, and such components may also be referred to below, collectively or singularly, as a xe2x80x9clensxe2x80x9d. Further, the lithographic apparatus may be of a type having two or more substrate tables (and/or two or more mask tables). In such xe2x80x9cmultiple stagexe2x80x9d devices the additional tables may be used in parallel, or preparatory steps may be carried out on one or more tables while one or more other tables are being used for exposures. Dual stage lithographic apparatus are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,969,441 and U.S. Ser. No. 09/180,011, filed Feb. 27, 1998 (WO 98/40791), incorporated herein by reference.
Lithographic projection apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In such a case, the patterning structure may generate a circuit pattern corresponding to an individual layer of the IC, and this pattern can be imaged onto a target portion (comprising one or more dies) on a substrate (silicon wafer) that has been coated with a layer of photosensitive material (resist). In general, a single wafer will contain a whole network of adjacent target portions that are successively irradiated via the projection system, one at a time. In current apparatus, employing patterning by a mask on a mask table, a distinction can be made between two different types of machine. In one type of lithographic projection apparatus, each target portion is irradiated by exposing the entire mask pattern onto the target portion at once; such an apparatus is commonly referred to as a wafer stepper. In an alternative apparatusxe2x80x94commonly referred to as a step-and-scan apparatusxe2x80x94each target portion is irradiated by progressively scanning the mask pattern under the projection beam in a given reference direction (the xe2x80x9cscanningxe2x80x9d direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate table parallel or anti-parallel to this direction; since, in general, the projection system will have a magnification factor M (generally less than 1), the speed V at which the substrate table is scanned will be a factor M times that at which the mask table is scanned. More information with regard to lithographic devices as here described can be gleaned, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 6,046,792, incorporated herein by reference.
In a manufacturing process using a lithographic projection apparatus according to the invention a pattern (e.g. in a mask) is imaged onto a substrate that is at least partially covered by a layer of energy-sensitive material (resist). Prior to this imaging step, the substrate may undergo various procedures, such as priming, resist coating and a soft bake. After exposure, the substrate may be subjected to other procedures, such as a post-exposure bake (PEB), development, a hard bake and measurement/inspection of the imaged features. This array of procedures is used as a basis to pattern an individual layer of a device, e.g. an IC. Such a patterned layer may then undergo various processes such as etching, ion-implantation (doping), metallization, oxidation, chemo-mechanical polishing, etc., all intended to finish off an individual layer. If several layers are required, then the whole procedure, or a variant thereof, will have to be repeated for each new layer. Eventually, an array of devices will be present on the substrate (wafer). These devices are then separated from one another by a technique such as dicing or sawing, whence the individual devices can be mounted on a carrier, connected to pins, etc. Further information regarding such processes can be obtained, for example, from the book xe2x80x9cMicrochip Fabrication: A Practical Guide to Semiconductor Processingxe2x80x9d, Third Edition, by Peter van Zant, McGraw Hill Publishing Co., 1997, ISBN 0-07-067250-4, incorporated herein by reference.
Alignment is the process of positioning the image of a specific point on the mask to a specific point on the wafer that is to be exposed. Typically one or more alignment marks, such as a small pattern, are provided on each of the substrate and the mask. A device may consist of many layers that are built up by successive exposures with intermediate processing steps. Before each exposure, alignment is performed to minimize any positional error between the new exposure and the previous ones, such error being termed overlay error.
However, some of the intermediate processing steps, such as chemical mechanical polishing (CMP), rapid thermal annealing, thick layer deposition and deep trench etching, can damage or distort the alignment marks on the substrate or bury them under opaque layers. This can cause overlay errors.
In some technologies, such as micro systems technology (MST) and micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), devices are fabricated from both sides of a substrate. There has been a problem with performing exposures on one side of a substrate such that they are accurately aligned with features previously exposed on the other side of the substrate. An alignment accuracy of the order of 0.5 microns or better is typically required.
One aspect of embodiments of the present invention alleviates, at least partially, the above problems.
One embodiment of the present invention includes a lithography apparatus as specified in the opening paragraph, characterized by further comprising an optical system for providing an image of said alignment mark for use by the alignment system, said optical system being constructed and arranged to direct the alignment radiation via the second side of the substrate.
The image of the alignment mark may be provided at the plane of the first side of the substrate. This enables a common alignment system to be used for alignment of marks on both sides of the substrate. The alignment system may be capable of performing an alignment between features on the front and back of a substrate such that the accuracy of an exposure on one side with respect to features on the other side is of the order of 0.5 microns or better.
According to a further aspect of embodiments of the invention there is provided a device manufacturing method comprising the steps of:
providing a substrate that is at least partially covered by a layer of radiation-sensitive material;
providing a projection beam of radiation using a radiation system;
using patterning structure to endow the projection beam with a pattern in its cross-section;
projecting the patterned beam of radiation onto a target area of the layer of radiation-sensitive material on a first side of said substrate, while the second side of said substrate faces a supporting substrate table;
using an alignment system to align a pattern of the patterning structure with an alignment mark provided on the substrate, characterized by the steps of:
using an optical system to provide an image of said alignment mark for use by the alignment system, whereby said optical system directs the alignment radiation via the second side of the substrate;
aligning said image of said alignment mark with said pattern of said patterning structure.
Throughout this specification, reference to an alignment mark being on a particular side of the substrate of course includes the alignment mark being etched into that side of the substrate, and includes the alignment mark having subsequent material deposited on top of it such that it is embedded and is no longer necessarily exposed at the surface.
Although specific reference may be made in this text to the use of the apparatus according to the invention in the manufacture of ICs or MEMs, it should be explicitly understood that such an apparatus has many other possible applications. For example, it may be employed in the manufacture of integrated optical systems, guidance and detection patterns for magnetic domain memories, liquid-crystal display panels, thin-film magnetic heads, etc. The skilled artisan will appreciate that, in the context of such alternative applications, any use of the terms xe2x80x9cwaferxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cdiexe2x80x9d in this text should be considered as being replaced by the more general terms xe2x80x9csubstratexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9ctarget areaxe2x80x9d, respectively.
In the present document, the terms radiation and beam are used to encompass all types of electromagnetic radiation, including ultraviolet radiation (e.g. with a wavelength of 365, 248, 193, 157 or 126 nm) and EUV.